Beyond Rights boosts BBC Select doc content
April 14, 2021
New streaming service, BBC Select, available in the US and Canada on Amazon Prime Video and the Apple TV app, has completed a deal for a range of new documentary titles courtesy of Beyond Rights.
Jon Farrar, Editor in Chief at BBC Select, commented: “BBC Select is all about culture, politics and ideas and the Beyond Rights catalogue has some standout content on all three areas. I think the documentaries will have real resonance with our subscribers.”
Sherry Fynbo, Beyond Rights’ EVP sales for North America who negotiated the deal, added: “BBC Select offers an exciting new destination in the US and Canada for thought-provoking content that generates lively discussion and debate. We are delighted to have provided so many top tier titles from UK producer partners to add to its line-up.”
The titles from Beyond Rights inlcude:
· The $50 Million Art Swindle (1 x 90) from acclaimed director Vanessa Engle and Top Hat Productions, tells the story of New York art dealer Michel Cohen who swindled over $50 million from the art establishment before going on the run from the FBI for 18 years.
· World’s Greatest Paintings (10 x 60), from Lambent Production and presented by BBC journalist Andrew Marr, reveals the stories behind ten of the greatest paintings, from conception, creation, and public reception to the surprising life of the canvasses across generations. The ten paintings are Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Picasso’s Weeping Woman, Monet’s Waterlilies, Turners’ Fighting Temeraire, Velazquez’s Rokeby Venus, Millais’ Ophelia, Rembrandt’s Night-Watch, Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Constable’s Hay-Wain.
· How I Created a Cult (3 x 60) is Conscious Life’s in-depth look at US cult leader Andrew Cohen, one of the most notorious gurus of the last 30 years, and examines what attracts people to charismatic leaders and how the best of intentions can turn dark when authoritarian power structures benefit those in power.
· A Brief History of Graffiti (1 x 60) is from Kaboom Film & TV and follows Dr Richard Clay as he goes in search of what it is that has made human scribble and scratch mementoes of their lives. From the prehistoric cave paintings of Burgundy in France, through gladiatorial fan worship in Roman Lyon to the messages on the walls of Germany’s Reichstag in 1945.
· Trump in Tweets (1 x 60) from Wonderhood Studios examines Donald Trump’s love affair with social media. Using his tweets, it shows how the former President came of age on Twitter, from a technophobe to a serial tweeter.
· Starbucks & Nespresso: The Truth About Your Coffee (1 x 35), TI Productions’ investigation into the use of child labour in coffee bean harvesting, travels to Guatemala to discover young children working long hours in gruelling conditions to pick coffee beans that supply these two coffee giants.
· Dark Son (3 x 60) is a true crime series from Monster Films about suspected serial killer Harold Jones, referred to as the ‘Dark Son’ in his small Welsh town where he grew up.